I’ve been working a lot of overtime shifts, because my wife is pregnant.
I knew that she was going to have the baby soon.
I planned to take some time off when the baby was born. I had a week of paid vacation, but I still took some overtime shifts in the weeks leading up to the birth of my son. My son was supposed to be born on September the 15th. He came very early in August on a hot and humid day. I was working in Phoenix on an HVAC commercial repair. I was on the roof in 110° heat when my wife went into labor. I didn’t hear the phone ring. My wife tried to call me three times. She called once at 10:00 a.m. and I didn’t hear the phone ring. She called again at 11:00 and 11:15. She finally called my boss to track me down at noon. By then, she was already severely dilated and on her way to the hospital. I was getting ready to break for lunch when my boss showed up on the job site in downtown Phoenix. I knew something was wrong when I saw his face and I immediately thought about my wife. I looked at my phone and I saw the missed calls. I started to freak out and have an anxiety attack. My boss calmed me down and drove me to the hospital. He told me not to worry about the rest of the HVAC repairs. He was going to get someone to handle the rest of the work and he told me to stay at the hospital with my wife.